Some thoughts on the last decade in the NBA:
Championships:
2010: Los Angeles Lakers (W) 4, Boston (E) 3
2011: Dallas (W) 4, Miami (E) 2
2012: Miami (E) 4, Oklahoma City (W) 1
2013: Miami (E) 4, San Antonio (W) 3
2014: San Antonio (W) 4, Miami (E) 1
2015: Golden St. (W) 4, Cleveland (E) 2
2016: Cleveland (E) 4, Golden St. (W) 3
2017: Golden St. (W) 4, Cleveland (E) 1
2018: Golden St. (W) 4, Cleveland (E) 0
2019: Toronto (E) 4, Golden St. (W) 2
It's worth noting that after years of complaints about how the Eastern Conference is terrible, and the teams should be re-seeded, etc, the final results for the decade show that the West had six titles, while the East took four. In other words, the competition between the West and the East is generally closer than your typical ACC/Big 10 challenge.
Best Franchise of the Decade:
On June 14, 2012, the Oklahoma City Thunder took the floor in their home arena with a 1-0 lead in the NBA finals. At that moment, the Thunder were riding a five-game winning streak that looked like this (home team listed first):
5/31/2012: Oklahoma City 102 - 82 San Antonio
6/2/2012: Oklahoma City 109 - 103 San Antonio
6/4/2012: San Antonio 103 - 108 Oklahoma City
6/6/2012: Oklahoma City 107 - 99 San Antonio
6/12/2012: Oklahoma City 105 - 94 Miami
Now if you look up above, you will see that Miami and San Antonio dominated the NBA in 2013 and 2014, so winning five straight against those two teams in the summer of 2012 was a big deal. And look at the talent on the Thunder line-up. They had Kevin Durant, who was only 23 years old. They had Russell Westbrook, who was also 23. They had James Harden, who was 22. And they had Serge Ibaka, who was also 22. And those guys, as young as they were, had already shown the mental fortitude to beat the Spurs four straight times. I thought at the time that I was watching the next great NBA dynasty, and I was very excited.
That night, James Harden went 7-11 from the field, and scored 21 points. Durant went 12-22 and scored 32 points. But Russell Westbrook went 10-26. He got 27 points, but his missed shots killed the Thunder, who lost 100-95. The Thunder then lost two heartbreakers in Miami: 91-85 and 104-98. The Heat had 35 free throws in Game Three, while the Thunder had only 24. In Game Four, the Thunder had a 33-19 lead after the first quarter, and for the game Westbrook went 20-32 for 43 points. But the Heat had 25 free throws, and the Thunder had 16, and that was the difference in the game.
If Game Five had been in Oklahoma City, the Thunder might have rallied. But it was in Miami, and they collapsed, losing 121-106. After so many years of hype, LeBron James finally had his title. And that was it for the Thunder. They got rid of Harden in the offseason, and neither Harden nor Westbrook has ever been back to the NBA Finals. Durant eventually got there, but only after he joined the Warriors. I've never seen any good explanation for what happened to the Thunder, and I don't suppose I ever will. But I'm still very sorry about how that all turned out.
So the Franchise of the Decade turned out to be Golden State. One of the worst franchises in the league for over 30 years after their 1975 title, the Warriors took the gun-slinging model that Oklahoma City had showed everyone in 2012, and added mental toughness and selflessness that made them almost unbeatable. Had the Warriors not been felled by a truly spectacular wave of injuries a few months ago, they would have won three titles in a row. For me, the beauty and joy with which they play the game have made the Warriors my favorite NBA team since the Celtics of the 1980's. They may be getting close to the end of the line now, but what a line it has been.
Coach of the Decade:
It wasn't a great decade for NBA coaches, so I'm rolling with Steve Kerr, the Warriors coach. He's managed to keep everyone happy and productive in Golden State, and lots of other teams have shown us that is not always easy to do.
Best Team of the Decade:
Watching the Warrior teams of 2017 and 2018 -- after they got Durant -- was like watching someone who had a cheat code for a video game. No one could really touch them. I would give a slight edge to the 2018 team, which swept Cleveland, and which is one of the best teams I ever saw.
Best Player of the Decade:
While the West had the Warriors, the East had LeBron James. LeBron won the Eastern Conference title eight years in a row -- the only man since Bill Russell to reach that many consecutive NBA Finals. Even more remarkably, LeBron accomplished this feat with two different teams -- he won four titles with Miami, and then four titles with Cleveland, without missing a beat. LeBron's last team in Cleveland -- if you don't count LeBron -- was undoubtedly the worst team ever to reach the finals. Here were LeBron's teammates in Game One of the 2018 finals: Kevin Love, J.R. Smith, George Hill, Tristan Thompson, and Jeff Green. In that game, LeBron went 19-32 for 51 points. He also had eight rebounds and eight assists. His teammates went 25 for 67, including a brutal 7-30 from three-point range. And yet Cleveland would have won the game -- on the road -- if LeBron's teammates could have made late free throws or even remembered the score. That's how good LeBron was.
Best and Worst Changes of the Decade:
For me, the worst development of the decade was the inexplicable collapse of the Thunder, which I have described at length above. A lot of folks complained about how players worked together to build super teams. But that doesn't bother me. It's been great to see historically-bad franchises like the Warriors, the Cavaliers, and the Raptors get to shine on the big stage.
The best change of the decade was how the NBA responded to analytics and the humiliating losses suffered by the U.S. team at the 2004 Olympics and the 2002 and 2006 FIBA championships. Both the analytics and the Europeans were sending the same message: spread the floor and shoot threes. Teams like the Warriors and the Rockets adapted, and the game is much better as a result. Some folks complain that there's not enough defense or violence in the current game, but I saw more than enough of that back in the day. Personally, I enjoyed the NBA in the 2010's more than I had enjoyed it in any decade since the 1980's.
Best Playoffs of the Decade:
In 2016, the Thunder made their last stand. After dropping the first game of the Western Semi-Finals to San Antonio, they won four of the next five to make it to the finals. At the time, no one thought this was that big a deal, because the Thunder had to play Golden State, and the Warriors had posted an unbelievable record of 73-9, and were generally regarded as one of the best teams ever. But OKC upset the Warriors in Game One, and were up 3-1 after Game Four. The Warriors, however, fought back to win the last three games to reach the finals. In the finals, Golden State ran up against LeBron, who brought the Cavaliers back from a 3-1 deficit to give Cleveland its first title in any major sport since 2016. Personally, I think Golden State was worn down from the seven-game struggle with OKC. But the 14 games that Golden State played against OKC and Cleveland will always be, for me, one of the most memorable stretches in NBA history.
Best Game of the Decade:
This award, of course, must go to Game Seven of the 2016 finals. When LeBron retires, and they want to summarize his career, this is the game that will go first. Both teams were exhausted, and for once the old cliche about who wants it more really did seem to come into play. Down 76-75 after three quarters, the Cavs held Golden State to only 13 points in the fourth quarter -- due in large part to LeBron's legendary, length-of-the-floor sprint to block a layup that would have given the Warriors a late lead. Finally, Kyrie Irving nailed a long three-pointer to put the Cavs up for good, and send all of Northern Ohio into an uproar. It was a magical moment, and it fully and finally vindicated all of the hype about LeBron that we had dealt with since the Great Man was in high school.
Showing posts with label The 2010's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The 2010's. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Sunday, August 11, 2019
The 2010's: College Basketball
I've reached the age where my views of sports are all tinged with nostalgia for my youth. Names like Ed "Too Tall" Jones and Jay Shidler will always have a disproportionate impact on my recollection of sports. As a result, there is a grave temptation to underestimate what is happening now.
There's another factor at play. I grew up at the end of the period -- which covered most of the 20th century -- where sports were mostly left to sports fans. When I was growing up, sports was generally run by people who knew and cared a lot about sports, and who put on their competitions in a manner designed to appeal to folks like me. I can remember when we still had pennant races, when the Super Bowl kicked off at 1 P.M. on Sunday, and when the bowl games really mattered. But the folks who ran sports were so successful that by the end of the 1970's, it was obvious that enormous amounts of money were being left on the table. Since the early 1980's, we have seen sports taken over by a new type of executive -- someone who knows exactly how to squeeze every possible dollar out of the competitions we love. In the pursuit of these dollars, they have changed our sports in a determined effort to make them as palatable as possible to the so-called "casual" fan. Those of us who really care about the outcomes have seen our games flooded by new teams that probably shouldn't exist, games that are played at odd times, additional playoff rounds that demean the regular season, and rule changes designed to keep everyone happy. At the same time, the enormous sums at stake have encouraged coaches and athletes to treat every play as if it would decide the title -- an attitude that goes further than anything else to explain why all games now take so much longer to play.
But all of these complaints can easily go too far. The truth is that middle-aged sports fans have always complained that the games aren't as interesting as the ones they remember from childhood -- and often these complaints are more about our advancing age than about any problem with the sports or the athletes. The truth is that if you still care about the games -- if you still care about who wins and who loses -- then the last decade has been full of spectacular drama.
Since we are now wrapping up the 2010's, I thought I would look back at each of the major sports -- not through the eyes of nostalgia, but in the spirit of the sports books of the 1960's and 1970's. In other words, I will assume that you really care about outcomes, drama, and greatness. College basketball has already played its 2019 national championship, so we will start there.
Championships:
2010: Duke 61, Butler 59 (Indianapolis, Ind.)
2011: Connecticut 53, Butler 41 (Houston, Tex.)
2012: Kentucky 67, Kansas 59 (New Orleans, La.)
2013: Louisville 82, Michigan 76 (Atlanta, Ga.)
2014: Connecticut 60, Kentucky 54 (Arlington, Tex.)
2015: Duke 68, Wisconsin 63 (Indianapolis, Ind.)
2016: Villanova 77, N. Carolina 74 (Houston, Tex.)
2017: N. Carolina 71, Gonzaga 65 (Glendale, Ariz.)
2018: Villanova 79, Michigan 62 (San Antonio, Tex.)
2019: Virginia 85, Texas Tech 77 (OT) (Minneapolis, Minn.)
It was an era where college basketball was dominated by the East Coast. Eight of the 10 titles were won by teams from the ACC or the Big East. Another was won by Connecticut in 2014 -- the year after UConn left the Big East. So Kentucky's 2012 title was the only one captured by a team not connected to one of the big eastern conferences.
Best Program of the Decade:
Three schools -- Duke, UConn, and Villanova -- won two titles in the 2010's. UConn's program collapsed toward the end of the decade, so it's not really eligible for this discussion. Given that Villanova won its two titles as a Big East member after most folks thought that conference had been left for dead, I will give the edge to Villanova.
Coach of the Decade:
Here I'm going with Coach K. Not only did he win the NCAA's twice -- he also led the USA to two Olympic gold medals and two FIBA world championships in the decade. He was also brilliant in adapting both to the rise of one-and-done's and to the increased use of the three pointers. And Kentucky fans have to be impressed with the fact that he won both of his national titles in years where UK had a number-one seed and Kentucky fans really thought it was going to be our year. But it was Coach K's year instead. He's my coach of the decade.
Best Team of the Decade:
In 2018, Villanova completely dominated the NCAA's. The Wildcats beat Radford by 26, Alabama by 23, West Virginia by 12, Texas Tech by 12, Kansas by 16, and Michigan by 17. No one else in the decade had such an easy ride through the tournament. But Kentucky's 2012 team was also very strong -- the Cats never trailed in the second half of any game -- and the Cats had to win rivalry games in the tournament against Western Kentucky, Indiana, Louisville, and Kansas. The Cats finished the year with a record of 38-2, while Nova went 36-4. On the other hand, Ken Pomeroy's Estimated Margin indicates that 2018 Villanova (33.76) was better than 2012 Kentucky (32.59). If you're going with that, however, you should consider that according to Ken Pom the best team of the decade was 2015 Kentucky (36.91) -- and I'm not picking any team that failed to win a title. So we have to do it old school, and use the eye test: who would win a game between 2012 Kentucky and 2018 Villanova? In any such contest, I'm usually going with the team who has the best player -- and therefore I'm going with Kentucky.
Best Player of the Decade:
Anthony Davis of Kentucky. Media coverage of college basketball during this decade was dominated by one-and-done players. But Anthony Davis was the only one of those players who took his team all the way to the promised land. (Jahlil Okafor had a spectacular year for Duke in 2015, but I give much more credit for that title to Coach K.) Ask Zion Williamson or Karl Anthony-Towns how easy it is for a freshman to lead his team to the championship. In almost 50 years of watching Kentucky play basketball, Anthony Davis is far and away the best Wildcat I've seen. He's not only the best player I've seen for Kentucky -- he's also the smartest. I will never forget how he got better at shooting free throws, how he always managed to be in the right place at the right time, and his spectacular ability to go from defense to offense. In terms of a college player, I would put him up against anyone I can remember -- other than Bird and Magic.
Best and Worst Changes of the Decade:
The worst change to college basketball, in my opinion, was the decision by the football schools to pull out of the Big East. The old Big East was a joy to watch, and I miss it all the time. Meanwhile, Big East veterans like UConn, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh have struggled to find an identity without their historic rivalries. Word has it that UConn is returning to the Big East, and that will help, but it still won't be the same. We also continue to have a major problem with the officials, as we saw in the 2019 tournament, but that can hardly be blamed on the last decade -- it's been a problem for many years.
I'm not sure anything really got that much better in the 2010's. Personally, I like the one-and-done's -- I certainly think it's better than having folks like Zion going straight to the pros -- and I don't think they've distorted the sport in any significant ways. But it's not exactly a huge cause for celebration. On the whole, I think the most hopeful development was the rise of three-point shooting, and how teams like Villanova and Duke imitated the Warriors' bombing style. The NCAA gives defenders significantly more scope to hold and hack offensive players than the NBA or FIBA, and as long as that is the case, three-point shooting will be the only way to open the floor.
Best Tournament of the Decade:
It was a great decade for NCAA tournaments. There were several tournaments in the 2010's that were as good as any from the golden age in the 1980's. In 2011, four underdogs -- UConn, Kentucky, Virginia Commonwealth, and Butler -- made the final four. In 2014, the final game was between a 7-seed (UConn) and an 8-seed (Kentucky). Kentucky's run through the 2014 tournament was possibly the most exciting thing I've seen as a UK fan. In 2015, you had a series of showdowns between Super Teams at Kentucky, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Duke. And remember when Butler reached the final game in back-to-back years?
But the best tournament of the decade was the one that just concluded in April. Every round featured the usual drama, but the Round of 16 saw some amazing games: Duke beat Virginia Tech 75-73, Kentucky beat Houston 62-58, and Purdue beat Tennessee 99-94 in overtime. But that was only the beginning. Here were the last seven games of the 2019 NCAA Tournament (AP rankings in parentheses):
(9) Texas Tech 75, (4) Gonzaga 69
(2) Virginia 80, (13) Purdue 75 (OT)
(14) Auburn 77, (7) Kentucky 71 (OT)
(5) Michigan St. 68, (1) Duke 67
(9) Texas Tech 61, (5) Michigan St. 51
(2) Virginia 63, (14) Auburn 62
(2) Virginia 85, (9) Texas Tech 77 (OT)
That's three overtime games and two other games decided by one point each. Every team that reached the quarter-finals had a good chance to win it all, and all eight of us can tell ourselves that if they ran the tournament again, we could get there. To win the title, Virginia had to win two overtime games and a one-point game. In doing so, Virginia became the first team since Florida in 2006 to win the title for the first time. Virginia also overcame the demons of its humiliating loss to 16-seed UMBC the previous year. It's hard to make up more excitement than that. I have some severe differences with the officiating down the stretch in those games. But in terms of sheer drama, that tournament can stand with any of the ones from my childhood. I really hope that in 30 years, someone does a 30-for-30 type film on the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
Best Game of the Decade:
Every season, college basketball throws up dozens of games that include as much drama as anything in Hoosiers. As a Kentucky fan, I have particularly fond memories of UK's regular season wins over UNC in the 2011-12 and 2016-17 seasons -- and I am extremely happy about our victories to eliminate U of L from the tournament in 2012 and 2014. But the game of the decade was Villanova's 77-74 win over UNC to win the 2016 tournament -- the rare example of a national championship game being decided by a buzzer beater. It was really like something out of a movie.
And that summarizes my experience with college basketball in the 2010's. Of course, I always think college basketball is more fun when UK is really good -- and UK was really good in the 2010's. But I think anyone who watched these games in a fair spirit would conclude that we saw some spectacular action. I, for one, almost had to stop watching after the heartbreak of Kentucky's 2015 season. As time went on, however, the sheer excitement of the games drew me back in -- and now I'm already looking forward to the 2020's.
There's another factor at play. I grew up at the end of the period -- which covered most of the 20th century -- where sports were mostly left to sports fans. When I was growing up, sports was generally run by people who knew and cared a lot about sports, and who put on their competitions in a manner designed to appeal to folks like me. I can remember when we still had pennant races, when the Super Bowl kicked off at 1 P.M. on Sunday, and when the bowl games really mattered. But the folks who ran sports were so successful that by the end of the 1970's, it was obvious that enormous amounts of money were being left on the table. Since the early 1980's, we have seen sports taken over by a new type of executive -- someone who knows exactly how to squeeze every possible dollar out of the competitions we love. In the pursuit of these dollars, they have changed our sports in a determined effort to make them as palatable as possible to the so-called "casual" fan. Those of us who really care about the outcomes have seen our games flooded by new teams that probably shouldn't exist, games that are played at odd times, additional playoff rounds that demean the regular season, and rule changes designed to keep everyone happy. At the same time, the enormous sums at stake have encouraged coaches and athletes to treat every play as if it would decide the title -- an attitude that goes further than anything else to explain why all games now take so much longer to play.
But all of these complaints can easily go too far. The truth is that middle-aged sports fans have always complained that the games aren't as interesting as the ones they remember from childhood -- and often these complaints are more about our advancing age than about any problem with the sports or the athletes. The truth is that if you still care about the games -- if you still care about who wins and who loses -- then the last decade has been full of spectacular drama.
Since we are now wrapping up the 2010's, I thought I would look back at each of the major sports -- not through the eyes of nostalgia, but in the spirit of the sports books of the 1960's and 1970's. In other words, I will assume that you really care about outcomes, drama, and greatness. College basketball has already played its 2019 national championship, so we will start there.
Championships:
2010: Duke 61, Butler 59 (Indianapolis, Ind.)
2011: Connecticut 53, Butler 41 (Houston, Tex.)
2012: Kentucky 67, Kansas 59 (New Orleans, La.)
2013: Louisville 82, Michigan 76 (Atlanta, Ga.)
2014: Connecticut 60, Kentucky 54 (Arlington, Tex.)
2015: Duke 68, Wisconsin 63 (Indianapolis, Ind.)
2016: Villanova 77, N. Carolina 74 (Houston, Tex.)
2017: N. Carolina 71, Gonzaga 65 (Glendale, Ariz.)
2018: Villanova 79, Michigan 62 (San Antonio, Tex.)
2019: Virginia 85, Texas Tech 77 (OT) (Minneapolis, Minn.)
It was an era where college basketball was dominated by the East Coast. Eight of the 10 titles were won by teams from the ACC or the Big East. Another was won by Connecticut in 2014 -- the year after UConn left the Big East. So Kentucky's 2012 title was the only one captured by a team not connected to one of the big eastern conferences.
Best Program of the Decade:
Three schools -- Duke, UConn, and Villanova -- won two titles in the 2010's. UConn's program collapsed toward the end of the decade, so it's not really eligible for this discussion. Given that Villanova won its two titles as a Big East member after most folks thought that conference had been left for dead, I will give the edge to Villanova.
Coach of the Decade:
Here I'm going with Coach K. Not only did he win the NCAA's twice -- he also led the USA to two Olympic gold medals and two FIBA world championships in the decade. He was also brilliant in adapting both to the rise of one-and-done's and to the increased use of the three pointers. And Kentucky fans have to be impressed with the fact that he won both of his national titles in years where UK had a number-one seed and Kentucky fans really thought it was going to be our year. But it was Coach K's year instead. He's my coach of the decade.
Best Team of the Decade:
In 2018, Villanova completely dominated the NCAA's. The Wildcats beat Radford by 26, Alabama by 23, West Virginia by 12, Texas Tech by 12, Kansas by 16, and Michigan by 17. No one else in the decade had such an easy ride through the tournament. But Kentucky's 2012 team was also very strong -- the Cats never trailed in the second half of any game -- and the Cats had to win rivalry games in the tournament against Western Kentucky, Indiana, Louisville, and Kansas. The Cats finished the year with a record of 38-2, while Nova went 36-4. On the other hand, Ken Pomeroy's Estimated Margin indicates that 2018 Villanova (33.76) was better than 2012 Kentucky (32.59). If you're going with that, however, you should consider that according to Ken Pom the best team of the decade was 2015 Kentucky (36.91) -- and I'm not picking any team that failed to win a title. So we have to do it old school, and use the eye test: who would win a game between 2012 Kentucky and 2018 Villanova? In any such contest, I'm usually going with the team who has the best player -- and therefore I'm going with Kentucky.
Best Player of the Decade:
Anthony Davis of Kentucky. Media coverage of college basketball during this decade was dominated by one-and-done players. But Anthony Davis was the only one of those players who took his team all the way to the promised land. (Jahlil Okafor had a spectacular year for Duke in 2015, but I give much more credit for that title to Coach K.) Ask Zion Williamson or Karl Anthony-Towns how easy it is for a freshman to lead his team to the championship. In almost 50 years of watching Kentucky play basketball, Anthony Davis is far and away the best Wildcat I've seen. He's not only the best player I've seen for Kentucky -- he's also the smartest. I will never forget how he got better at shooting free throws, how he always managed to be in the right place at the right time, and his spectacular ability to go from defense to offense. In terms of a college player, I would put him up against anyone I can remember -- other than Bird and Magic.
Best and Worst Changes of the Decade:
The worst change to college basketball, in my opinion, was the decision by the football schools to pull out of the Big East. The old Big East was a joy to watch, and I miss it all the time. Meanwhile, Big East veterans like UConn, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh have struggled to find an identity without their historic rivalries. Word has it that UConn is returning to the Big East, and that will help, but it still won't be the same. We also continue to have a major problem with the officials, as we saw in the 2019 tournament, but that can hardly be blamed on the last decade -- it's been a problem for many years.
I'm not sure anything really got that much better in the 2010's. Personally, I like the one-and-done's -- I certainly think it's better than having folks like Zion going straight to the pros -- and I don't think they've distorted the sport in any significant ways. But it's not exactly a huge cause for celebration. On the whole, I think the most hopeful development was the rise of three-point shooting, and how teams like Villanova and Duke imitated the Warriors' bombing style. The NCAA gives defenders significantly more scope to hold and hack offensive players than the NBA or FIBA, and as long as that is the case, three-point shooting will be the only way to open the floor.
Best Tournament of the Decade:
It was a great decade for NCAA tournaments. There were several tournaments in the 2010's that were as good as any from the golden age in the 1980's. In 2011, four underdogs -- UConn, Kentucky, Virginia Commonwealth, and Butler -- made the final four. In 2014, the final game was between a 7-seed (UConn) and an 8-seed (Kentucky). Kentucky's run through the 2014 tournament was possibly the most exciting thing I've seen as a UK fan. In 2015, you had a series of showdowns between Super Teams at Kentucky, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Duke. And remember when Butler reached the final game in back-to-back years?
But the best tournament of the decade was the one that just concluded in April. Every round featured the usual drama, but the Round of 16 saw some amazing games: Duke beat Virginia Tech 75-73, Kentucky beat Houston 62-58, and Purdue beat Tennessee 99-94 in overtime. But that was only the beginning. Here were the last seven games of the 2019 NCAA Tournament (AP rankings in parentheses):
(9) Texas Tech 75, (4) Gonzaga 69
(2) Virginia 80, (13) Purdue 75 (OT)
(14) Auburn 77, (7) Kentucky 71 (OT)
(5) Michigan St. 68, (1) Duke 67
(9) Texas Tech 61, (5) Michigan St. 51
(2) Virginia 63, (14) Auburn 62
(2) Virginia 85, (9) Texas Tech 77 (OT)
That's three overtime games and two other games decided by one point each. Every team that reached the quarter-finals had a good chance to win it all, and all eight of us can tell ourselves that if they ran the tournament again, we could get there. To win the title, Virginia had to win two overtime games and a one-point game. In doing so, Virginia became the first team since Florida in 2006 to win the title for the first time. Virginia also overcame the demons of its humiliating loss to 16-seed UMBC the previous year. It's hard to make up more excitement than that. I have some severe differences with the officiating down the stretch in those games. But in terms of sheer drama, that tournament can stand with any of the ones from my childhood. I really hope that in 30 years, someone does a 30-for-30 type film on the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
Best Game of the Decade:
Every season, college basketball throws up dozens of games that include as much drama as anything in Hoosiers. As a Kentucky fan, I have particularly fond memories of UK's regular season wins over UNC in the 2011-12 and 2016-17 seasons -- and I am extremely happy about our victories to eliminate U of L from the tournament in 2012 and 2014. But the game of the decade was Villanova's 77-74 win over UNC to win the 2016 tournament -- the rare example of a national championship game being decided by a buzzer beater. It was really like something out of a movie.
And that summarizes my experience with college basketball in the 2010's. Of course, I always think college basketball is more fun when UK is really good -- and UK was really good in the 2010's. But I think anyone who watched these games in a fair spirit would conclude that we saw some spectacular action. I, for one, almost had to stop watching after the heartbreak of Kentucky's 2015 season. As time went on, however, the sheer excitement of the games drew me back in -- and now I'm already looking forward to the 2020's.
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